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NCAA tournament 2014: UConn and Kentucky make for improbable title game, set up 'crazy ending'

NCAA UConn Florida Final Four Basketball

Connecticut guard Shabazz Napier, left, drives to the basket over Florida forward Dorian Finney-Smith during the first half of an NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Saturday, April 5, 2014, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

In the end, those preseason rankings weren't so far-fetched after all. Sure, it took them longer than expected, but Kentucky is finally rolling, taking out Wisconsin Saturday to advance to the program's 11th national championship game. The Wildcats' opponent Monday night will be Connecticut, a team not many expected to see in the NCAA title game this season. But, after dispatching the heavily-favored Florida Gators in the Final Four, that's exactly where the Huskies are headed. If the past month is any indication, Monday's showdown should be one wild ride.

After winning their last three tourney games by a combined 10 points, the Wildcats -- or, the Cardiac 'Cats as they're becoming known -- came through again Saturday night, slipping by Wisconsin 74-73 to clinch a berth in the national championship game. And once again it was Aaron Harrison who delivered the winning shot, as ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf writes:

Aaron's role now? The guy who gets the rock when the game is on the line -- and in the final minutes, it's always on the line, it seems, with this reborn Kentucky team. (These Wildcats are the first team ever to win four consecutive games by five points or fewer in a single NCAA tournament.)

He's surrounded by a crew of players who've suppressed their inner protagonists to encourage one of their own to step forward and play a solo that's turned a raggedy band into a symphony.

Kentucky guard Aaron Harrison (2) makes a three-point basket in the final seconds over Wisconsin guard Josh Gasser (21) to win the game 74-73 during their NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Saturday, April 5, 2014, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Of course, Harrison didn't do it alone; in fact, he scored just 8 points in the game. So while Harrison gets the credit, it was really the steady work of Julius Randle, James Young and Dakari Johnson that kept Kentucky competitive for the entire game. As Matt Norlander of CBSSports.com notes, it is Randle's exceptional ability -- not Harrison's late-game heoics -- that has kept the Wildcats' sometimes-scary season afloat:

Randle's good for three, four, five or six plays per game that clearly demonstrate he's playing at a level that's just not fair. He's ready for the NBA. And behind him, or through him -- he's basically acted as an engine -- Kentucky's in a spot to win its second title in three years.

Harrison deserves the fame and glory, but Randle is just as responsible for Saturday night's outcome.

Similarly, while pundits continue to heap praise on Kentucky, UConn still somehow finds itself with something to prove. Which is a shame, writes ESPN's Dana O'Neil, because the Huskies are just as deserving of their moment:

Saint Joseph's essentially ran out of players in overtime.

Villanova was done in by another lousy shooting night.

Iowa State didn't have its offensive lynchpin, Georges Niang.

Michigan State was just off, maybe tired from a slugfest win against Virginia two nights before. And Florida didn't really play as well as it normally does.

That is one way to view Connecticut's steps toward its improbable appearance in the national championship game.

Here's another way, a more accurate way: The Huskies are really good.

Keying UConn's unlikely run to the title game, Shabazz Napier has been getting plenty of attention. And even if he did score only 12 points in the win against Florida, he still deserves all of it, writes Mike DeCourcy of SportingNews.com:

Florida ganged up on Napier and did everything at its disposal to limit his influence, but when the game was being decided he came up with that steal just inside the 7-minute mark and then a second, as well as an assist across the top of Florida's 1-3-1 zone defense that put the Huskies ahead 10 with 6:20 to play. Napier scored only 12 points, but passed for six assists, allowed sharpshooter Michael Frazier a single 3-pointer to start the game and guided the team through a difficult early period.

Judging by the way UConn calmly broke down No. 1 seed Florida's winning formula Saturday night, the Huskies -- like the Wildcats -- should be evaluated by their play in the NCAA tournament, not by the regular season. With that in mind, writes Reid Forgrave of FoxSports.com, basketball fans should anticipate one last wild, anything-goes basketball game:

And so we have the national title game that no one would have guessed three weeks ago: No. 8 seed Kentucky and its suddenly mature freshmen against No. 7 seed UConn and its experienced, tenacious crew.

The teams come here after two polar opposite journeys -- Kentucky after a season of overhype, overanalysis and underachievement, UConn after a couple years in

which the entire future of its program seemed up in the air.

But I fully expect an overtime game, or a buzzer-beater, or an unexpected hero -- the type of crazy ending this crazy tournament deserves.

And let's not forget about the seeding aspect of the national championship. Much commotion was made when UConn topped Florida to become the first No. 7 seed to ever reach the title game. And then for Kentucky, a lowly No. 8 seed, to join them? That isn't just unusual, writes Yahoo! Sports' Jay Hart, it's historic:

Since 1985, at least a No. 1, 2 or 3 seed has been in every single final. Before this year, the highest combined total of seeds in a final was 11 in 2011: UConn (3) vs. Butler (8).

And when the champion is crowned Monday night, no more than 0.7 percent of Yahoo Sports users will have picked the correct winner.

But this tournament has been an amusement park and fun house rolled into one, what with three No. 12s advancing, Duke being humbled by 14th-seeded Mercer and only one No. 1 seed making the Final Four. We should have known the wild ride was going to continue right up to the end.

Did it ever.

More Coverage:

Aaron Harrison's buzzer beater look familiar? That's because it's nearly identical to the one he made to knock off Michigan in the Elite Eight, writes USAToday.com's Chris Chase.